A fun spin on serious cosmic stuff! Wendell C. Perry has 40 years experience studying astrology and how it impacts personalities & relationships. He's written two books & published articles in astrology magazines. He's happy to share this website so that you, too, can have fun with astrology to help you in everyday life!

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19 November 2013

M. C. Escher and the Gemini Mind

In my last article I discussed the artwork of Francis Bacon and its relevance to Scorpio. The only artist I can think of whose work epitomizes his or her Sun sign better than Bacon is the graphic artists, M.C. Escher.

Escher was a Gemini. He was a Gemini all over the place. (Click here to see his horoscope.) Out of the ten commonly used astrological bodies, Escher had five in that sign. So it comes as no surprise that his work has such Gemini feel.

Escher’s artwork is all about the mind. It is about solving puzzles and finding new ones. It is about trading mystification for clarity for mystification for clarity, and so on. It is about the endless quest for knowledge and understanding. (Click here to see a gallery of Escher’s prints.) (The work pictured to the right is titled Relativity.)

Gemini is the sign we associate with communication and problem solving. Gemini people typically look at the world in a rational manner. Where the rest of might see things, or emotions, or inspiration, they see ideas. And what is magical about ideas is that they can be manipulated in so many interesting ways. This is what Escher was able to do with his graphic work. He plays games with our perceptions and our preconceptions. He messes with our heads, with our ideas. And, of course, we love him for it.

The juxtaposition of Escher with Bacon not only illustrates the vast differences between these two artists, it also shows us the difference between the meanings of Gemini and Scorpio. Where Escher playfully manipulates ideas, Bacon gushes dark emotion. Think of the range between these two points of view. And yet, it is a range easily encompassed by any human being, and by every system of astrology.

In the previous article I talked about the relationship between Scorpio’s tortured emotionalism and spirituality. Gemini can also be included in this discussion. Just as Scorpio introduces us to our deepest fears so that we can begin the courageous climb toward spiritual completeness, Gemini takes to the end point of rational thought, to that jumping off point where we have to consider the world in non-rational terms.

We see this in the work of M. C. Escher. Our first inclination when we look at an Escher print is to try and figure out the puzzle. Then we recognize that the puzzle has no solution; that it circles around on itself, that it is two things at once. At that point we accept the ambiguity of life, and the limitation of a purely rational point of view. This is the first rung on the ladder that will take us to a higher form of thinking.

Any thoughts about the artwork of Francis Bacon or M.C. Escher? Who do you prefer? How do you think your horoscope influences that preference?